Neeraj Gupta, Principal Investment Officer at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), led the IFC team tasked with assisting the Indian government to structure water sanitation Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects along the Ganga River. India depends heavily on the river to support its agriculture and manufacturing sectors. Additionally, the river also held religious significance for Hindus. However, inadequate sewage treatment infrastructure had caused the river to become severely polluted. In the past, initiatives launched by the Government of India to clean up the river had been unsuccessful. In August 2011, the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) was established to help states reduce pollution and implement environmentally sustainable development. However, the lack of expertise and financing made progress slow and external support and advice from the World Bank and IFC was sought. In 2015, a team from the World Bank Group consulted with various stakeholders to understand the problems faced. This time, instead of using the traditional Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Model, Gupta introduced the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) PPP model to address the concerns of both the government and private sector investors. The PPP structure would allow the government to save on the capital outlay as well as engage private sector expertise. The HAM structure allowed for sharing of risks between the private sector partners and the government. The HAM model was successfully trialled in a few pilot projects and Gupta hoped that it would pave the way for more similar projects along the river.

Set in July 2020, this case talks about a solar park public-private partnership (PPP) project in Madhya Pradesh, India. Manu Srivastava, Chairperson of Rewa Ultra-Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL), and his team had decided to go ahead with the project without the support of viability gap funding (VGF). However, the project faced a setback when the central government lowered the solar VGF tariff by 10%, forcing RUMSL to look for innovative ways of attracting lower bids. After consultations with solar developers and potential financiers, Srivastava and his team introduced many de-risking measures like payment security mechanisms, land availability guarantee, project termination and grid unavailability compensation and tax-change risk coverage clauses in the power purchase agreement. The team also implemented innovative features like an optimum scheduling mechanism (to attract a high credit off-taker) and a data room with updates on land and internal evacuation infrastructure availability before the start of the bidding process. The overall strategy was to avoid the 'Goldilocks syndrome' and create a perfect balance between risks being transferred and known risks being accommodated. An e-reverse auction was used for the bidding process. The final tariff achieved was 40% less than the VGF tariff. RUMSL's nuts and bolts approach of process innovation motivated the central government to shift its focus from VGF to scalable market-based financing models. A "Standard Bidding Guidelines" for solar projects was introduced by the government, incorporating many features of the Rewa project.

PUB, Singapore's National Water Agency, is one of the heaviest users of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model in the public sector. As of 2020, it had awarded seven PPP contracts for a total of five desalination and three NEWater plants. Among the key features of PUB's PPP projects were the adoption of the Design, Build, Own and Operate (DBOO) project structure; a 25-year concession period; and small-sized project teams. The main benefits which arose from these PPP projects were value for money, the introduction of new technologies and knowledge transfers, the expansion of Singapore's private water industry, and the blossoming of Singapore into a hydro hub. However, despite letting the private sector have a hand in running the water plants, PUB was of the view that its own officers had to obtain these companies' expertise, so that it could evaluate whether they were technically competent, and, in the event of a default, step in to manage the plants. To further mitigate against risks to Singapore's water supply, PUB also carried out regular operations audits, and engaged the plants' senior management regularly.